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Assessment of sucrose transporters, metabolites and sucrose phosphate synthase in different sugarcane tissues

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Abstract

The expression of sucrose-phosphate synthase II (SPSII) and sucrose transporters ShSUT1A and ShSUT4 were determined by RT-PCR and qRT-PCR in the sink and source leaves and in rind and pith of mature internodes of four high-yielding Hawaiian sugarcane cultivars. Expression of SPSII, ShSUT1A, and ShSUT4 was lower in pith than in rind, except in one cultivar, but else quite similar in the cultivars. The strong expression of transporter ShSUT4 in the rind of the internodes may hint to a special role of ShSUT4 in the rind. ShSUT4-expression in the sink and source leaves was similar in all four cultivars, whereas large differences were found for the expression of ShSUT1A and SPSII between the source and sink leaves and between the cultivars. The levels of sucrose precursors were doubled in source leaves compared to sink leaves, whereas they were higher in immature internode compared to mature internode. The role of sucrose transporters and SPSII in leaves and internodes is discussed, but the large differences, which were observed in the transcript levels of SPSII and sucrose transporters between some cultivars, although all the cultivars were similarly high-yielding cultivars, show that SPSII and SUT transcript levels cannot be used as indicators of high-yield cultivars.

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Acknowledgements

Dr. ElSayed and Dr. Ebrahim thank the DAAD for a visiting scholarship, the research by Dr. Lehrer was supported by DFG.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, 44519, Egypt

    Abdelaleim Ismail ElSayed

  2. Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, Kunia, HI, USA

    Axel Lehrer

  3. Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

    Mohsen Ebrahim

  4. Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt

    Azza H. Mohamed

  5. Plant Physiology, University of Bayreuth, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    Abdelaleim Ismail ElSayed & Ewald Komor

Authors
  1. Abdelaleim Ismail ElSayed
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  2. Axel Lehrer
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  3. Mohsen Ebrahim
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  4. Azza H. Mohamed
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  5. Ewald Komor
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Correspondence to Abdelaleim Ismail ElSayed.

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ElSayed, A.I., Lehrer, A., Ebrahim, M. et al. Assessment of sucrose transporters, metabolites and sucrose phosphate synthase in different sugarcane tissues. Physiol Mol Biol Plants 23, 703–712 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-017-0454-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-017-0454-7

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